Fingernail protector



Jan. 1,--. 1963 s. c. PARRILLA 3,070,804

FINGERNAIL PROTECTOR Filed Feb. 6, 1961 INV EN TOR.

United States Patent Ofifice 3,0793% Patented Jan. 1, 1963 3,070,304FINGERNAEL PROTECTOR Salvatore C. Parrilla, 318 Leader Bldg, Cleveland14, Ohio Filed Feb. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 87,130 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-21) Thisinvention rciates to improvements in a fingernail protector.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a fingernailprotector which is cheap to construct, which is easy to slip upon thefinger, and which has a built in protecting strip adapted to engagebetween an extending end of fingernail and the finger itself so as topositively position the protector and to give additional support to thefingernail.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from theaccompanying drawings and description and the essential features thereofwill be summarized in the claim.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my improved fingernail protector;

PEG. 2 is a plan view of the fingernail protector of FIG. 1 taken fromthe side that lies underneath the finger of the wearer;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device of FIGS. 1 and 2 taken from theside which would lie along the back of a human finger;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the device; while FIG. 5 is a topplan view similar to FIG. 3 and showing a modification.

My invention comprises a unitary fingernail protector adapted to becheaply formed either from a single piece of resilient sheet metal orpreferably to be molded from a suitable plastic such as polystyrene,polyvinyl chloride or polyethylene and the like.

My device comprises a combined back and outer end portion indicatedgenerally at with the outer end portion designated lfirr. The back hastwo wing portions 11 curving away from it in opposite directions so asto extend around a finger and to clamp the device upon such a finger. Itwill be readily understood that the unstressed position of these wingportions as shown in the drawings encompasses a circle slightly lessthan the largest size finger upon which it is intended to be clamped sothat the Wing portions are slightly expanded when it is clamped upon afinger. A novel nail supporting strip 12 is positioned between the wingportions 11 and the outer end We of the protector. This strip, as shown,is unitary with the back and end portion 10 and extends from side toside of the outer end portion generally parallel thereto as clearly seenin FIG. 4 and in a position to lie between the outer end of an extendingfingernail and the portion of the finger directly beneath it.

From an examination of FIG. 4, it is easily seen that if the device weremade of metal, a piece of tubular material having approximately thediameter shown by the parts 10 and 1.1 in FIG. 4 could be cut away toprovide the wing portions 11 and the supporting strip 12 could be cutout of the tubular material and bent toward the opposite side until itarrived at the position shown in MG. 4. The construction of the deviceout of moldable plastic material needs no description here as such artis well known.

The modification of FIG. 5 is in all respects like the first describedform except that a window 13 extends through the back 10 and outer endportion 10a in position to register with the nail of a user when theprotector is in place so that a nail may be examined or polish appliedthereto.

it is thus seen that I have contrived a fingernail protector which, whenapplied to the finger of a wearer while nail polish is drying or at anytime when the fingernail needs protection, is held in position partly bythe wing portions 11 and partly by the positive engagement of thesupport strip 12 between the extending end of the fingernail and theadjacent portion of the finger which lends additional support to thefingernail and also positively prevents the device from being pushed toofar down on the finger itself.

What is claimed is:

A fingernail protector adapted to underlie and support the distalportion of a long fingernail of a human finger in which the nail extendsrelatively far beyond the end of the finger, said protector comprising aunitary structure of stilt resilient material having a combined back andouter end portion arcuate in section and adapted to overlie thefingernail on a human finger, said back having two wing portions at oneend and an outer distal portion at the other end, said wing portionsbeing located on the underside of the back and curving away from saidback in opposite directions in position to clamp around said finger, anail supporting strip on the underside of the back between said wingportions and said outer end, said strip being unitary with and extendingon the underside of the back from one side to the other side thereof,said strip having a central portion arcuate and substantially uniformlyspaced from said outer end portion and two end portions curved towardand integrally connected with said back, the central portion of saidstrip positioned to contact and support the underside of the distalportion of the nail that extends beyond the finger, the edge of thestrip adjacent the wing portions abutting the end of the finger tothereby help position said protector thereon.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,297,807 Sommers Oct. 6, 1942 2,409,101 Brittingham Oct. 8, 19462,458,709 Kayer Jan. 11, 1949 2,467,613 Davis Apr. 19, 1949 2,487,101Colby et a1. Nov. 8, 1949

